New from Polish developer Flying Wild Hog – the studio behind the rebooted Shadow Warrior series and the more recent Trek To Yomi – is Evil West, a supernatural western game that is a throwback to iconic third-person action shooters from the mid-2000s like God of War and Devil May Cry. Set in the American Frontier, Evil West puts players in the role of Jesse Rentier, one of the last remaining agents of a clandestine vampire-hunting task force. He is charged with tracking down a high-ranking vampire who is amassing forces to declare war on humanity before human technology develops enough to become a threat to vampire existence.
While games in this particular style aren't designed to be overly challenging, there are still some elements that can trip up new players. Sometimes this will result in missing secrets or valuable items, while others are combat elements that may not be intuitive out of the gate. Here are the most common mistakes players will need to overcome in the early hours of Evil West.
10 Not Looking Up
As stated above, one of the easiest mistakes for players to make in Evil West is strolling right past collectibles and hidden items. There are alcoves and pathways tucked away all over the game's many areas that lead to hidden items and "Bucks," the game's main form of currency, an essential for any Wild West hero. These hidden paths require persistent exploration from players to spot. However, there are also frequently valuables hanging just above the player's head.
These valuables are stashed away on bodies suspended from the ceiling. They appear all over the map, and players will be able to shoot them down. Players won't find any weapons on them, but these bodies always carry a decent amount of Bucks, and over time, collecting them all will add up to a lofty sum.
9 Ignoring Silver Chains
Every third-person action game has a visual cue for the direction in which players can go to progress. In Horizon: Zero Dawn it's yellow paint, in God of War: Ragnarok it's runes along a cliff edge, and in Evil West, it's silver chains. These chains will hang from climbable ledges and will indicate which way players can go to move forward in the game.
Spotting these chains isn't just about moving forward though. They almost always indicate the direction to go to progress to the next area, but that also means they indicate the threshold that prevents a return to the current area. Spotting the silver chains is also important because, for players who want to find everything, they serve as an indicator of which direction to go last, after collecting all the loot in the area.
8 Not Prioritizing The Free Bullet Upgrade
Throughout the campaign of Evil West, players will discover locations where they can upgrade their weapons. These upgrades aren't cheap, and often cost a fair number of Bucks, but they're all worth it, improving and expanding the capabilities of every item in Jesse's arsenal.
The most essential of these upgrades is the Free Bullet upgrade for the Rentier Rifle. This upgrade grants a free bullet whenever the player shoots an enemy weak spot. Weak spots will appear with glowing circles on enemies when they are charging a particularly powerful attack, and shooting them will interrupt that attack. Particularly on tougher late-game enemies, being able to blast away at weak spots without expending ammo is a huge asset.
7 Killing Weaker Enemies First
Many of the fights in Evil West that involve a boss or mini-boss will also feature a crowd of grunt enemies along with them. These enemies are much weaker and make great fodder for a quick shotgun blast, and players may feel inclined to do away with them before focusing on the stronger target. This would be a mistake.
For one, those weaker enemies can provide a quick burst of health in the midst of a tough battle, which is already invaluable. More importantly, they can increase the player's mobility. Player movement is slow, and the dodge roll has very little range to it. Keeping the weak enemies alive and using Jesse's Zapper Dash ability to zip over to them can get players out of range of a powerful enemy attack much more easily that rolling or running will.
6 Not Conserving Energy
The aforementioned Zapper Dash ability is one of the many abilities that are linked to Jesse's gauntlet. The gauntlet is a powerful secondary weapon that can be upgraded with various abilities, including one that pulls enemies closer, and an AOE slam that can do some serious crowd controlling if timed correctly.
These abilities all consume energy from the gauntlet's battery reserves. Those reserves will slowly recharge over time, but more powerful abilities will require more stored energy to execute. Making effective use of those energy reserves can be the difference between life and death, and wasting them will almost certainly have a negative outcome.
5 Sitting On Cooldown Abilities
While gauntlet abilities are worth holding on to until the right moment, Jesse also has abilities that are associated with his weapons and gear. These abilities are on cooldowns and don't pull from energy reserves. It's not worth holding back on using them.
In the early game, these abilities provide the best crowd control players will have at their disposal. The first weapons Jesse has access to are single-target guns, and the flamethrower ability Flame Jet is the only real option for clearing out larger crowds several enemies at a time. The cooldowns on these abilities recharge quickly, especially when players are dishing out melee damage, so don't be afraid to pop them as often as possible.
4 Relying On The Same Combos
There are a lot of combo options available in Evil West. Between the various weapons, their various cooldown abilities, and the gauntlet abilities, there are a lot of ways to mix and match, and attack inputs are all easy enough to pull off that doing so isn't a tall order.
However, it can be easy to get into a rhythm with the same combos over and over, and early on in the game that will likely be enough to get through most encounters. It's a bad habit to get into though. As the game progresses, combat scenarios will get more complex, and those combos will start to falter. It's best to get used to changing up tactics early on so that it comes more easily when the going gets tough.
3 Ignoring Virgil's Workshop
Sometimes, players will set themselves up with a skill tree layout that seems to be a good plan in concept, but just isn't working in practice. Rather than trying to tough it out and force things to work, there is a simpler solution.
Early in the game, players will come across Virgil's Workshop. It's not immediately obvious, but while there, players will have the option to freely reset their perks. For many, this won't be necessary, but for those whose chosen skills just aren't working out, starting again and rebuilding from scratch can make all the difference.
2 Trying To Finesse Tough Encounters
All the abilities, weapons, and powers at Jesse's disposal can make it tempting to get fancy with combat. Trying to control the flow of battle is fun and exciting, and there are few better feelings in the game than luring a whole crowd in close and then blowing them all away with a single AOE.
However, this isn't always going to work out. Some encounters will punish players for getting too fancy. At the end of the day, there is no tactic more foolproof than brute force. It may not be as fun or flashy, but sometimes the best option will simply be to pull out the Boomstick shotgun, use the Zapper Dash to get in close, and just start blasting away until everything stops moving.
1 Ignoring Co-op
While primarily designed as a single-player experience, Evil West does offer the option to play co-op with a friend. This can make the game move forward much more quickly, and can make tough encounters much easier. Enemies will scale to the host player's level, which keeps everything fair.
It's worth noting that co-op progression will only influence the host's campaign. Any visiting players will return to their campaign in the same place they left it, so they should be prepared to repeat any missions they hadn't already completed on their own. However, the right co-op partner can turn Evil West into a fantastic time.
Evil West was released on November 22nd, 2022, and is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.